For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ---Ephesians 6:12

"The age of casual Catholicism is over; the age of heroic Catholicism has begun. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead must be Catholics by CONVICTION." ---Fr. Terrence Henry TOR, Franciscan University of Steubenville

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

In the way that many people "cherry-pick" what they like in the Bible while disobeying or disbelieving the rest, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does the same with Catholicism with regards to the life issue. Her pro-death stand on abortion is not looked upon favorably by the Vatican, and is likely the reason why her visit with Pope Benedict XVI today was limited to 15 minutes with no reporters or photographers. My first confession took longer than that.

The Vatican released the following statement:

"His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural and moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, which enjoins all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men of goodwill in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

What on Earth did she expect him to say?

When the visit was over, Pelosi did not acknowledge the Pope's remarks on the life issue, but instead complimented him on other issues popular with Democrats like poverty, hunger, and global warming. See? Cherry picking.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

This is an interesting contrast of ideas between capitalism vs. socialism, conservatism vs. liberalism, Americanism vs. ...well, something else. What a shame that we couldn't find someone who could express the basic notions of what we hold dearly, as Reagan could, to run against the Messiah. Please give it a listen...

Friday, February 13, 2009

Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs has posted a horrifying story of an honor killing which occurred yesterday afternoon (before the plane crash) at an Islamic television network based in NY, by their own CEO, Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan, in which he literally beheaded his own wife. Read Pam's post HERE and her source piece HERE. Seems kind of strange that the only news out of Buffalo in the main stream media is the plane crash. Not that the plane crash story isn't worthy of dominating the airwaves, but I believe this one certainly should be a close second.

Mr. Hassan turned himself into Orchard Park police shortly after 6pm and is being charged with 2nd degree murder.--- Huh???

Does it seem sometimes like the media is afraid to cover these stories...and the authorities are afraid to throw the book at the wackos that commit these crazy crimes----when they're Muslim?

This might be a good time to plug a movie on DVD by Christian Action Network called Home Grown Jihad, a documentary about the 35 Islamic terrorist training compounds scattered throughout the United States.

Star Parker, writing an editorial for Scripps Howard News Service, tells a story of the conviction of a black pastor, Walter Hoye, founder and chairman of Issues4Life Foundation, for holding a sign bearing a pro-life message and passing out pro-life literature near an abortion clinic in inner city Oakland, CA. In other words he tried to offer counseling to some confused young women on their way to kill their unborn baby without their parents' knowledge.

But it wasn't any of the patients who complained about Pastor Hoye. It was the employees at the clinic. The abattoir in question known by its euphemistic title, Family Planning Specialists, (catering to those who plan to have part of their family sucked down a sink) performs over 100 abortions per week at about $600 a kill. That comes to over $3 million per year in revenue, and most of that comes from the nearly bankrupt State of California, which insists on financing such endeavours no matter the dire state of the State.

Funny how abortuaries lobby politicians for laws that forbid parental knowledge and counseling on site, or discourage even sonograms. Seems like some people are hell-bent on getting these young ladies in and out quickly, $600 wham-bam-thank-- etc... It's certainly big business for Planned Parenthood, a multi-billion dollar goliath. None of them want to help plan families. They simply want to kill and get paid for it.

Pastor Hoye could get 2 years in prison and $4,000 in fines for standing in the way of BIG BUSINESS. Read the whole article HERE.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Many of you may have noticed that for some time now this blog has taken on a kind of...Catholic flavor to it. There is a very good reason for this: I'm in RCIA classes. That is, Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, for those joining the Catholic Church.

Although I was baptized Catholic years ago, I never received my first communion in a Catholic church, nor was I confirmed. For years my soul drifted aimlessly with no church and no real knowledge of God, nor did I have any real interest for a while. More details can be found HERE if you're at all interested.

In 2000 one of my cousins died at age 29, and I traveled 2 days by car to his funeral which was held at an Episcopal Church called St. Monica's. For those who don't know, St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine and the person who brought him back to the church. The pastor invited all who had been baptized to come up to the alter to share in the Lord's supper, so I did just that --my first ever communion at any church. That was the moment that pointed me in the right direction, though I would have many more hurdles to jump before reaching the point of no return. That's the point at which you know you now-and-always-will belong to Christ.

Since then I could never quite get myself to join any church. I was then only shopping among the Protestant ones, and although I found many I liked, I never found one where I felt at home. Plus I still had the habit from my childhood of oftentimes making the sign of the cross before and after prayer which put some protestants off, especially the Baptists.

There were many influences which lead me back to the Catholic Church: my friend and blog partner, Kevin, whom I alienated years ago and who took me back as a friend in 2006 (God bless him); Laura Ingraham (whom I've bumped into a few times) and her radio show with frequent guest Ray Arroyo of EWTN; Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia whom I have also bumped into a few times with similar results (I don't believe in coincidental encounters); an encounter with a short, old, diminutive nun at St. Patrick's in Manhattan; and Pope Benedict XVI when he visited (no I didn't bump into him) and was impressed with what he had to say.

Mainly it was the position of the Catholic Church on the life issue that drew me in. Most of the Protestant churches consider themselves pro-life on abortion, but if you visit their websites and read their stand on the issue it's rather weakly supportive. Most say they are against abortion BUT refuse to call for an all out ban, or they say abortion is bad but also understand a woman's right to kill her unborn child. For these positions I believe organized christian religion is losing its cred. So I've never felt at home in protestant churches.

I kept getting goosebumps every time I'd watch it (over and over again) and see the words: 67 million Catholics in America. Every time I saw those words I knew I was, always had been, and always would be a Catholic; so at the end of November I decided to stop putting off the inevitable and make it official --I started classes.

This Easter Vigil I will receive the Sacrament of the Eucherist for the first time in a Catholic Church, and at Pentecost I will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation which until now I have put off for three decades. I should point out that most RCIA candidates will be confirmed at Easter Vigil shortly after receiving the Eucherist. But since I am a prodigal sheep (a Catholic returning to the church), the Bishop himself will have to shepherd me back into the flock. My long time friend Kevin will be sponsoring me, and my confirmation name will be Augustine. At long last I will have returned home.

Friday, February 6, 2009

St. Louis appears to have a wonderfully conservative collection of Bishops, from Archbishop Burke (see next blog post) on down. Below is an article by Most Reverend Bishop Hermann which is well worth a read. I copied the whole thing from www.LifeSiteNews.com, because it is indeed a MUST READ:

Bishop Hermann: 'I thought you should know’

By Bishop Robert J. Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator

January 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - I was very edified this past Saturday to see the Cathedral almost filled for the Pro-Life Mass. Then to see such a large contingent, on a very cold day, make a pilgrimage to the abortion clinic, praying the Rosary for Life, was truly heartwarming.

At the very moment I am writing this, our new president, Barack Obama, is being sworn into office. We congratulate him, and we pray for him, but we cannot condone his pro-death policies, even while we are happy that so many people feel they have new hope. We must do everything we can to oppose his pro-death-to-children efforts.

Joseph Bottum, in an article entitled "Abortion after Obama," writing in the January 2009 edition of First Things, pages 13-15, tells us, "Now the 2008 election has brought us the presidency of Barack Obama, the most consistent supporter of legalized abortion ever nominated by a majority party."

When asked about making decisions as to when a baby gets human rights, President Obama answered that "is above my pay grade." He also stated that he would not want his daughters "punished with a baby."

He has made it known that, upon taking office, he will remove all federal restrictions on funding embryonic stem-cell research. He also intends to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. Seldom has our nation ever been confronted with such an extreme measure. The Freedom of Choice Act will invalidate for the entire country all restrictions on abortion before viability, including parental notification, waiting periods and partial-birth abortion bans. President Obama has no problem supporting legislation that would even kill a child who survived a botched abortion.

If at this stage our anger is directed at President Obama, our anger is misdirected. Obama is not the enemy. He needs and deserves our prayers, not our condemnation.

As Catholics, we are not guiltless. It seems to me that when President Kennedy compromised Catholic teachings and accommodated political pressures in order to be elected to the highest office in the land, he set the tone for many Catholic leaders to follow and to compromise their Catholic principles to get ahead.

In our Supreme Court and in our Congress, we have a plethora of so-called Catholics who are failing to live their Catholic identity. Over 50 percent of our electorate voted for a president who is one of the most pro-culture-of-death candidates from a major party to run for the highest office of the land.

Yes, we can thank one-half of our Catholics for bailing out on their faith!

After almost 50 years of having 50 percent of Catholics abandoning their Catholic identity, we cannot expect to turn this culture around by short-term political efforts.

In order to bring about a transformation from a culture of death to a culture of life, we have to restore our Catholic identity.

This means that all of us, as Catholics, have to undergo a profound transformation. It means that we have to take a good look at every facet of our Catholic life, including the serious study of life issues, the regular and devout use of our Sacramental system, especially the devout and weekly attendance at Mass, the regular reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the devout praying of the daily Rosary, and then the faithful, loving and firm witness to lax Catholics about our Catholic beliefs and practices.

We have to live our lives in such a way that we will be unafraid to witness to what we believe and live.

I may courageously say that I am willing to die to end abortion, but am I equally willing to say that I am ready to let my ego get ruffled daily for the same cause? Yet … that is where I need to arrive if I am to be a credible witness.

What a glorious opportunity we all have to make a difference in the pro-life cause. Until we are willing to be politically incorrect in order to be biblically correct, we will never convince anyone that our religion is worth living.

It does not take 100 percent of our Catholics to transform this country. If 75 percent of our Catholics were steeped in Catholic identity, the abortion issue would be over for our entire country. We have many, many evangelicals on our side in the culture of life. Look at how many more of them would flock to our side if we really lived our Catholic teachings! They, too, are looking for changeless principles lived out in practice.

But there is more! Our laxity in living our Catholic life has blinded us into not seeing the role of Satan in the culture of death. Satan is having a heyday in our midst, because he has managed to remain invisible in the culture of death, and our laxity has granted him that luxury. Since we are not steeped in the Word of God as we should be, we do not recognize his darkness in our society. Our first reading from Hebrews tells us, "The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart."

St. Paul tells us that our warfare is not against flesh and blood but against the power and principles of darkness. He also tells us that we should not let the sun go down upon our anger so as to give Satan a foothold. These readings are wake-up calls for us all. I bring this up deliberately, because I do not want us to fall into Satan's trap of getting us to hate President Obama or any of the pro-choice Catholic legislators in Congress. Being pro-life means that we engage far more in spiritual warfare than in political warfare.

That Satan is very alive in influencing all of us is his best-kept secret. Becoming steeped in the Word of God and the teachings of the Catholic Church exposes his evil machinations.

President Obama, pro-choice legislators and Planned Parenthood are not our enemies. Our enemies are the invisible forces masked behind these people. Most of them do not have a clue that they are being deceived by our common enemy, the devil. They are used by our common enemy, Satan, and his evil forces, to get us to hate so that we, too, will end up in a culture of death. President Obama and all pro-choice and pro-abortion legislators, as well as members supporting Planned Parenthood (and we have in our own state a national legislator who has received over $900,000 from groups that advocate for abortion rights) — these are not our enemies. They are used by the evil one to get us to hate them in our efforts to be pro-life and thereby ditch our pro-life efforts. We cannot fall for that trap!

We owe all of them prayers and fasting for their conversion. At one point, Gov. Reagan was California's very pro-abortion governor. Yet he became a very pro-life president. He repented and regretted the evil he supported.

We must bravely witness against supporting pro-choice and pro-abortion candidates in political elections, but pray daily for their conversion.

This is a great time to be a Catholic. This is a great time to witness to such a clear choice, the choice of Christ or the anti-Christ.

We have only one life to live, and Jesus is it!

If our focus consists only in counting votes, we will be discouraged. If our focus is on giving ourselves and our activities totally to Christ so that He can use our witnessing as He wishes, our hearts will be throbbing and radiating with life and joy.

This is a great time to wake up from our slumber of simply calling ourselves Catholic, and wage war against the forces of darkness in ourselves first and then in our culture, a culture which is resting on the premise that God does not exist.

Our actions and our lifestyles have to radiate the inner presence of Christ in the home and in the marketplace.

This is a glorious day and a glorious opportunity for any follower of Christ! We need to recover our Catholic identity, and we can do it!

[End of article]

I highlighted in red what I considered to be the most important paragraph in the article, as it brings to mind Ephesians 6:12 (the Bible verse, and our blog's creed, located at the top of our blog page) and seeks to remind us that our real enemy is not each other, but Satan. Obama and all the other minions could see the light some day...we hope really soon... and come to their senses on such a gravely important issue.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Here is something you wouldn't have necessarily known by listening to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops: It is an absolute rule in the Catholic Church that so-called "pro-choice" politicians should be DENIED Holy Communion (body and blood of Christ) at mass. That is according to Archbishop Raymond Burke:

[["I don't understand the continual debate that goes on about it. There's not a question that a Catholic who publicly, and after admonition, supports pro-abortion legislation is not to receive Holy Communion and is not to be given Holy Communion."

"The Church's law is very clear," said Archbishop Burke, who was appointed last year by Pope Benedict XVI as thehead of the Church's highest court, the Apostolic Signatura. "The person who persists publicly in grave sin is to be denied Holy Communion, and it [Canon Law] doesn't say that the bishop shall decide this. It's an absolute."]] (my bold)

See the entire interview and article on Archbishop Burke by clicking HERE.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Something could probably be done to stop Planned Parenthood from continuously breaking the law in hiding rape, but unfortunately the wrong people were elected last November, so...

As you can see in the video above, another sting operation leaves Planned Parenthood stung. The Mona Lisa Project strikes again with their hidden video camera by UCLA student Lila Rose, who happens to be my pro-life hero these days. Although there are many to choose from in the pro-life movement, few show the intestinal fortitude that Lila shows in exposing Planned Parenthood's crimes against statutory rape victims, along with PP's apparent support for the statutory rapists themselves.

In the video above, a minor aged 15 visits a Tuscon, AZ Planned Parenthood abortion clinic and lets it slip that her boyfriend is 27 years old! So naturally the nurse tells the girl to keep quiet about it and not have him go to court with her. How wonderful it is for Planned Parenthood to be sensitive to the needs of a 27 year old schmuck who is bedding down a 15 year old girl. PP is a multi-billion dollar empire whose antics deserve much more attention from the mainstream media.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Of all those jobs Obama is promising...how many will go to foreigners? According to reports there are currently 138,000 foreign workers imported each month in this country. And we are losing tens of thousands of jobs each week. It is okay to let them in when times are prosperous, but when things tighten up, so should our immigration policy. But it doesn't. Go figure.

Matt K Cassens

(not my photo)

Click on picture above for information about the author.

Also, I want to add that not everyone I link to below marches lock-step with me on every issue. But I link to them nonetheless because I think they are righteous. They have taken sides in their respective battles, political and/or religious, and have chosen wisely. May you do the same.

Followers

The middle east media research institute

Stop Islamization of america

Fair Use Statement

Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.

I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.